Many facilities are provided with security systems that include monitoring and detection devices distributed throughout the facility in electronic communication with one or more device control modules. Known security systems include a user interface module in electronic communication with each device control module. The user interface module facilitates configuration and control of the security system by a user.
When a condition is monitored or detected, known security systems may be configured to provide audible notification using defined tone or buzzer patterns associated with a type of the detected condition. Such tone or buzzer patterns typically are defined by regional regulatory authorities. For example, the National Fire Protection Association's Code (“NFPA”) 72 requires a detected fire condition giving rise to an evacuation condition to be signaled by a repeating pattern of three half-second on, half-second off tones and a one-and-a-half second pause. Other tone patterns may be generated with the same tone or buzzer sound to signal other types and degrees of detected condition. Unfortunately, the similarity of the patterns for many types of detected conditions, combined with the relatively rare occurrence of serious emergency conditions in the average system operator's experience, increase a difficulty for the average system operator in determining which type of detected condition corresponds to a given tone pattern. This increases a response time of the system operator and also increases a difficulty in responding appropriately.
Known detectors have included pre-recorded voice messages that play in addition to the tone patterns when the detector senses certain conditions in order to communicate with building occupants. A deficiency of such known detectors is that each detector is able to produce an audible voice message notification only in its own local area. Further, each detector is limited in an ability to synthesize detected conditions with similar information from other detectors and coordinate the information to select a properly responsive pre-recorded voice message notification. Known detectors and security systems do not address facilitating communications with a system operator. Still further, after such known detectors are installed, it has not been efficient to update or modify on-site the set of pre-recorded voice messages available from each detector; the otherwise-functional detectors generally must be disassembled and reassembled with new parts, or replaced with a new detector pre-loaded with the desired new set of voice messages.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and/or a method that facilitates an automatic selection and provision of an appropriate pre-recorded notification voice message at the user interface, based on information available from multiple monitoring and detection devices associated with the system. It is also desirable to provide a system and/or a method that facilitates an efficiency of updating or modifying the available set of pre-recorded voice messages on-site without a need to modify or replace installed detectors.